Currently, there are desktop or lab systems that can render three-dimensional (3D) perspective views of terrain with overlays, and there are portable location-based information services that can provide two-dimensional (2D) and 3D information (e.g., maps) based on global positioning system (GPS) position using local data sources. However, there are no instances of portable systems utilizing server-based rendering with geographic information system (GIS) overlay capability.
PDA/Notebooks with GPS
Several handheld GPS companies are offering tools and software that can generate map images based on a user's current GPS position. For example, the Delorme Earthmate GPS connected to a handheld device running 3D TopoQuad, allows a user to generate 3D perspective views of topographic maps. Additionally, Delorme's XMAP 4.0 software can display in 2D or 3D; with or without shaded relief, contour lines, mad data, and almost any underlying map attributes. The XMAP 4.0 software allows a user to quickly compare aerial or satellite imagery with topographic quad maps or vector maps using a split-screen viewing option. The Delorme Earthmate GPS, 3D TopoQuads, and Delorme XMAP 4.0 software are produced by Delorme, located at Two DeLorme Drive, P.O. Box 298, Yarmouth, Me., 04096, United States of America. Although the Delorme products are considered prior art, they do not enable orientation-specific rendered views, do not address user selection of overlays, and require that all geographic information system (GIS) resources be stored on a unit in advance.
Other systems with similar deficiencies include the Garmin iQue 3600 which uses maps on a personal digital assistant (PDA) integrated with GPS position (i.e., navigation). The Garmin iQue 3600 is produced by Garmin International Inc., located at 1200 East 151st Street, Olathe, Kans., 66062, United States of America.
MapTech's Terrain Navigation family of products are also similar, with products running on notebook computers and PDAs that are coupled with GPS receivers. The MapTech products are produced by MapTech, Inc., located at 10 industrial Way, Amesbury, Mass., 01913, United States of America. These products also require local map databases and rendering. The notebook-based products can provide 3D renderings.
GIS Database & Rendering
The leader in GIS software and databases, ESRI, located at 380 New York Street, Redlands, Calif., 92373-8101, United States of America, markets ArcPAD as a solution for desktop and laptop systems, but does not enable 3D rendered views on the spot with overlays. The ArcGIS 3D Analyst product is an add-on to the ArcGIS desktop application that provides 3D renderings with overlays, but only on the local desktop computer. ArcIMS, ArcWeb and ArcObject are ESRI tools for providing GIS services via the Internet, but they do not include 3D rendering.
Erdas Imagine software plus virtual GIS can do 3D rendering of imagery or topographic maps, with icon overlays from ESRI DB. The Erdas Imagine product is produced by Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping, LLC, located at 2801 Buford Highway, New England, Atlanta, Ga., 30329-2137, United States of America. It is a desktop product requiring significant processing power and access to the GIS database. It can produce animated movies for distribution over the internet, but not interactively generate them based on client GPS/orientation.
Web 3D Rendering
Keyhole Corp. has a 3D viewer/server system, but does not use orientation in its renderings. Keyhole Corp. is located at 1101 L'Avenida, Mountain View, Calif., 94043, United States of America. The Keyhole system uses a client's desktop system for rendering.
Infmedia's 3DIMap technology creates 3D renderings from GIS data sources using server-based GIS and rendering software. Infmedia is located at 56010 Ghezzano (PI), Via Carducci 64/D, Italy. The Infmedia product does not utilize GPS and orientation hardware on the client system. Although GIS data is included in their technical diagrams, no examples are provided showing the use of overlays. The system is intended for the production of canned 3D experiences and does not provide for real-time mapping.
A variety of other commercial terrain databases exist for rendering 3D views of terrain. For example, Digimation, located at 101 James Drive, Suite 150, St. Rose, La., 70087, United States of America, provides the 3D U.S.A. models of the mainland U.S. However, they do not contemplate the means to use these databases.
In academia, several systems have been developed to enable a portable virtual GIS. Foremost is the work from Georgia Tech, located at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga., 30332, United States of America. See, (http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/datavis/research/vgis.html, D. Koller, P. Lindstrom, W. Ribarsky, L. Hodges, N. Faust, and G. Turner. Virtual GIS: A real time 3D geographic information system. Proceedings of IEEE Visualization, pages 94-101, 1995.) The TellMaris project in the European Union has implemented test applications of a portable GIS using notebook or kiosk systems to provide 3D renderings. The TellMaris system uses local rendering hardware with access to Internet-based map products.
A number of Augmented Reality (AR) systems have been developed in academia. These systems place labels and other annotations over live images and display the results through a Head Mounted Display. The data and rendering is done locally on a notebook computer. Label deconfliction is provided by sophisticated placement algorithms. Example AR systems are Columbia University's MARS and HRL Laboratories DVEB systems. Columbia University's MARS program is located at Columbia University, Department of Computer Science, 450 Computer Science Building, 1214 Amsterdam Avenue, Mailcode: 0401, New York, N.Y., 10127-7003, United States of America. HRL Laboratories is located at 3011 Malibu Canyon Road, Malibu, Calif., 90265, United States of America.
Web-Based Servers
The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC), located at 35 Main Street, Suite 5, Wayland, Mass., 01778-5037, United States of America, has defined a number of standard protocols for GIS Web Services and sponsored development of reference implementations. These standards and implementations could be used as backend data sources for the Invention, but they do not provide for 3D rendering. OGC standards include: Catalog Interface, Coordinate Transformation Services, Filter Encodings, Geographic Markup Language Grid coverages Simple Features, Styled Layer Descriptor, Web Coverage Service, Web Feature Service, Web Map Context Documents, and Web Map Service.
Prior art is either overly constrained by the limitations of current hardware, or overly complex in its attempt to solve an academic problem. In addition, prior handheld systems do not use orientation sensing, which is a key aspect needed to automatically generate a user's requested view. Furthermore, there are no instances of portable systems utilizing server based rendering with GIS overlay capability. Thus, a continuing need exists for portable, handheld device that has the ability to display 3D-rendered imagery based on a user's location and orientation.